Some companies may soon be exempt from Bloomington’s new regulations on chain businesses downtown. Last night the city Plan Commission passed an amendment that would exclude upper story corporate offices from the ordinance. The City Council must also approve that amendment for it to take effect. The new regulationsofficially took effect on Friday, August 2. The ordinance allows the city to regulate the design of new chain restaurants and stores downtown. The city’s Planning staff said upper-story offices should not have to follow the rules, stating they do not possess any potential to create the same aesthetic concerns presented by first floor standardized retail and office uses.

———————–

Conservative Opposition to Pence Health Plan

By Joe Crawford

A study released today by a conservative think tank claims Governor Mike Pence’s Healthy Indiana Plan 2.0 will damage the state’s economy. The group, Federalism in Action, says Pence’s plan could kill over 100,000 jobs by expanding Medicaid and “crowding out the private sector.” The think tank, which has financial ties to the billionaire Koch brothers, states HIP 2.0 could also reduce family incomes in Indiana by requiring new taxes. Pence proposed HIP 2.0 in May, describing it as a consumer-driven and market-based program. Pence opposes the Affordable Care Act and has refused to go along with the Obama administration’s requests to expand Medicaid in Indiana to cover low-income residents. Pence’s proposal is currently under review by the federal government.

———————–

Women Underrepresented on University Boards

By Joe Crawford

A majority of students at Indiana’s public universities are women, but most of those who govern the schools are men. That’s according to a new analysis by the Indianapolis Star. The newspaper found women make up only about a fifth of the positions on public university governing boards across the state and that most trustees are white men. Across the country, just 28 percent of trustees are women, according to a survey conducted in 2010. In Indiana, the governor appoints a majority of the public university trustees. At IU, two of the nine trustees are women. At Ivy Tech, three of the thirteen trustees are women.

———————–

IU Misses Top 100 Forbes Ranking

By Alycin Bektesh

The annual Forbes list of College rankings was released last week, with Indiana University Bloomington nearly missing the top one hundred. Three Indiana schools made the top one hundred, Notre Dame was Indiana’s highest honored school, ranked 17th in the country. Depaw and Earlham are 91st and 92nd respectively. IU Bloomington was ranked 107th overall, and 18th in both the Public Colleges and Midwest Schools categories. Purdue also landed on the top 25 Best Public Schools list coming in at number 25. Of the 650 schools analyzed for the report, Indiana State University was ranked 647th.

———————–

Crowdfunding Effort Made For Homeless Shelter

By David Murphy

Bloomington’s Interfaith Winter Shelter has started a crowdfunding campaign through Indie Go-Go. The shelter runs every night from November 1 to March 31, with four local churches to provide emergency shelter to individuals without homes.They provide a meal, and sleeping place with clean blankets and pillows. The shelter also provides laundry services for the bedding, bus tickets, and one on-duty professional safety staff member from 9:00 PM until midnight. The interfaith winter shelter provides between 6000 and 7500 beds each winter.

Chief Deputy Mike Pershing gives the latest update of road closings and power outages from the Monroe county sheriff’s office; A winter warming shelter has been set up by the local American Red Cross in Bloomington High School North’s gymnasium; The Shalom Center located at 620 S Walnut Street in Bloomington has extended open hours until 9pm today and will be serving dinner this evening; Bloomington Transit Bus Service is in service; Twenty Two Residents on Redhill Road in Elletsville will be without power until at least tomorrow at noon due to power outages that Duke Energy says are not worth repairing at this time; several local businesses had on their open signs despite the slick conditions and dangerously low temperatures; Monroe County Emergency Management director Jim Comerford explains what the unit has been doing today to combat the hazardous temperatures in the region.

ACTIVATE!
Jan Williamson talks about the exciting new west side YMCA of Monroe County. Open since November, the new branch is still looking for community feedback to help shape programming and could always use new volunteers.